Empire State College Student Lori Mould Sworn in As SUNY Trustee

Lori Mould is the college's first student ever to serve as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees. Mould was joined at the swearing in ceremony by President Hancock, far left, Chancellor Zimpher and immediate past president of Genesee Community College, Stuart Steiner. Photo/Empire State College

(ALBANY, N.Y. – June 9, 2014) State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher and the SUNY Board of Trustees today welcomed Empire State College student Lori Mould, who was sworn into her one-year term with the board at a ceremony held in Albany today.

Mould is the first Empire State College student to be elected president of the State University of New York Student Assembly and to sit on the board as the student trustee. All presidents of the SUNY student assembly serve as a full member of the board.

The 51-year-old native of Delavan, N.Y., who returned to school after a 27-year career in construction, graduated from Empire State College this month with a B.A. in art and a GPA of 3.9. She is a 2014 recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence and also earned two associate degrees from Genesee Community College.

“It will be a privilege and honor to serve alongside Lori Mould in the year ahead,” said SUNY Board Chairman H. Carl McCall. “As a student at two of our campuses and within the student assembly, Lori has gained a great deal of knowledge about SUNY and our student body, which complements her experience as a member of New York’s workforce for more than 25 years. Lori will bring a unique perspective to our table, and I look forward to working with her.”

Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher looks on with pride as Joel Pierre-Louis, secretary of The State University of New York Board of Trustees swears in Student Assembly of the State University of New York President and Empire State College student Lori Mould as the student trustee. Photo/Empire State College

“Ensuring that the viewpoints of our students are heard by the Board of Trustees and incorporated into its actions throughout the year is a critical component of SUNY’s mission,” said Zimpher. “Through her service in our communities and on our campuses, Lori has shown great ability and enthusiasm for leadership, and I am confident that she is going to serve as an excellent representative on behalf our students across the state.”

“I am honored to have the opportunity to represent SUNY’s almost half a million students across New York State,” said Mould. “As students of the largest and most comprehensive system of higher education in the country, we have a unique chance to move the dial on many critical issues facing students, not only here at home, but around the nation. I look forward to working closely with all of our student leaders, as well as with Chancellor Zimpher and Chairman McCall to ensure that the students have a voice on the Board.”

“It is an honor to be here today and to offer congratulations on behalf of Empire State College to Lori Mould as she joins the SUNY Board as the student trustee,” said Merodie A. Hancock, president of SUNY Empire State College. “As a former construction worker, business owner and grandmother of two, Lori represents a growing population in higher education: nontraditional students. As president of SUNY’s statewide nontraditional college, I am proud that Lori has earned the right to advocate for all SUNY students as president of the SUNY student assembly and as the student trustee. She has been a great advisor on student issues during my first year as president and I am confident she will be an outstanding ambassador and advocate for the entire SUNY system.”

The next meeting of the SUNY Board of Trustees is scheduled for June 17. Mould will serve a one-year term on the SUNY Board of Trustees, until May 31, 2015.

She organized a Hurricane Sandy rebuilding trip to Staten Island and has organized more than 30 trips to the Gulf Coast for recovery and rebuilding efforts post Katrina and Rita. Mould presented her work at the 2013 Student Academic Conference, where it was selected for inclusion in SUNY’s annual showcase of student research.

Mould’s artwork was selected for display at the 2012 and 2013 GVC alumni, student and faculty exhibit and one of her photographs was selected for inclusion in the college’s 2012-13 calendar.

Mould co-chairs the college’s Student Affairs Committee and serves on the college senate, the Alumni Federation Board and the Student Activity Fee Committee.

She has one son, Joshua, 32, a daughter-in-law, Jamie, 29, and two granddaughters, Autumn, 6, and Anaka, 2.

The Student Assembly of the State University of New York is an organization of student leaders elected by their peers from all SUNY campuses. The student assembly is committed to empowering SUNY students throughout New York state and nationally, as well as to ensuring the highest quality of student life on each of the system’s 64 campuses.

The student assembly president is elected annually in the spring by his or her peers from across the SUNY system. In addition to serving as president, the student elected also serves as a member of the SUNY Board of Trustees with full voting privileges, as well as a voting member of the board for the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.

About SUNY Empire State College

Empire State College, the nontraditional, open college of the SUNY system, educates more than 20,000 students worldwide at eight international sites, more than 35 locations in the state of New York, online, as well as face to face and through a blend of both, at the associate, bachelor’s and master’s levels.

The average age of an undergraduate student at the college is 35 and graduate students average age 40.

Most Empire State College students are working adults. Many are raising families and meeting civic commitments in the communities where they live, while studying part time.

In addition to awarding credit for prior college-level learning, the college pairs each undergraduate student with a faculty mentor who supports that student throughout his or her college career.

Working with their mentors, students design an individual degree program and engage in guided independent study and course work onsite, online or through a combination of both, which provides the flexibility for students to choose where, when and how to learn.

Students have the opportunity to enroll five times during the year.

The college’s 70,000 alumni are active in their communities as entrepreneurs, politicians, business professionals, artists, nonprofit agency employees, teachers, veterans and active military, union members and more.

The college was first established in 1971 by the SUNY Board of Trustees with the encouragement of the late Ernest L. Boyer, chancellor of the SUNY system from 1970 to 1977.

Boyer also served as United States commissioner of education during the administration of President Jimmy Carter and then as president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 463,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs, and more than 1.8 million NYS citizens in professional development and personal enrichment programs, on 64 college and university campuses. There are nearly 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.

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Empire State College media contact: David Henahan, director of communications